Rather than shooting him in silhouette, as if Lee was a state's witness on the run from dangerous criminals, McLeod hired an actor to lip-sync these audio interviews, giving his words a face and a visual performance that proves deliciously clever. McLeod tapped Alan Cumming, the iconic Scottish actor who, it just so happens, was once eyed to play Lee in a narrative film about his life that never came to fruition. Though this is a cheeky nod to the story's complicated nature, the casting is jarring at first. Cummings is recognizably a pro, whereas the rest of the interview subjects are unguarded civilians. However, this unsettling distinction urges the audience to question everything Lee says from the very start. And what a hiding place: behind the face of a beloved, award-winning thespian of the stage and screen who brings a mischievous wink and sly sophistication to every outlandish anecdote, including the nonchalant insistence that Lee has the mind control powers of a Jedi. Yeah, and that's just a taste! My Old School pulls from Daria in a sensational way. Playing the contemporary Lee, Cumming wears gray hair, glasses, and the conservative garbs of a respectable everyman, but his performance extends to the documentary's many re-enactments of Lee's time among his 16-year-old classmates. Rather than pulling a Pen15, where adults essentially cosplay as kids in a live-action comedy style, My Old School animates its re-enactments with voice acting from performers.

Better yet, it does so in a style that is heavily influenced by MTV's hit '90s cartoon Daria. The students and their teachers are illustrated as caricatures, which like the Cumming casting proves sublimely smart. The Daria style of bold colors and thick black outlines urges Gen X'ers and elder millenials into a cozy nostalgia, priming us for scenes of high school hijinks. It works perfectly thematically to portray teen bullying, reckless partying, and cool kid makeovers in this way, but it's also a nifty solution to keep Lee's face off camera, helping obscure the secret at this story's center. Once the cat is out of the bag, archival footage from the school and Lee's subsequent apology tour will reveal his '90s face, creating a terrific payoff for the doc's shocking climax. And, again, yes, you can totally search for this, but My Old School is more fun when you're along for the ride.

90s photoshoot backdrop